Meet Hannah Cohen-lawlor

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hannah Cohen-lawlor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hannah below.

Hannah, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately since I’m directing for the very first time! I also produced for the first time this year, so it’s been a lot of firsts lately. It’s funny, I started out as just an actor, and getting humbled is basically a sport for actors, from the audition process onward, it’s part of the job. As a director though, it’s my duty to everyone who agreed to work with me to be confident, or else why would I waste their time? I’ve been learning everything I can, and getting as prepared as possible. I’m reminded that as an actor, I have been working with directors for years, talking to them in depth repeatedly about the work, reading hundreds of scripts and being on dozens of sets. There’s a reason a lot of actors turned directors present exceptional debut films. I’m excited and encouraged by how I’ve taken to the process so far. I never thought I would produce, and that was a success. I didn’t know if I could write for stage and yet the two one-acts I wrote both went to production. I keep trying new things and each time I’ve been able to adapt and surprise myself with just how capable I really am. I also have a ton of confidence in the team we’ve gathered so far- more on that once I can share, but I’m definitely pulling out all the stops in bringing some experts on board that I trust to do fabulous work. Tarantino said if you love cinema with all your heart and enough passion, you can’t help but make a good movie. I love this project. I love projects like these. I have a smart and talented team. With my whole heart, I’m excited to watch the film we make together. It might just be a good one.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

So right now, I am an actor, writer, director, producer and musician. I like to stay busy. Last fall I starred in the short film Both Sides Now, which is now in the process of getting into festivals. That’s been exciting. I just saw a rough cut of Joshua Tree, the short film I produced and also acted in this summer, and it is looking spectacular! Ready to give people some goosebumps… As for directing, I wrote a short screenplay based on my 2023 dark comedy one-act “Beep Boop B*tch,” and we’ve just started pre-production! Think- a bloodier Stepford Wives, sort of Stepford Wives meets Killing of a Sacred Deer. Was Barbie too tame for you? We’ve got you covered. “Beep Boop Baby” is a love story about violence, and a violent story about love. Prepare yourself for an irreverent, dystopian theme park ride through the future of modern romance: enforced monogamy, female companion bots, what would that really look like? What won’t thrill you will chill you, and what doesn’t make you laugh will make you cry. I couldn’t be more excited for this one. As for music, I will likely have more time for performing once we wrap on this current project. Still writing music though, looking to have some new stuff released maybe around the end of 2025. We’ll see. Lots to do before then!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

First, I would say have clarity. Know specifically what your goals are. I used to get disappointed over not booking jobs that I didn’t even want, over not making closer friends with that connection that I actually didn’t really click with at all. I didn’t know what I wanted, so any opportunity for anything felt like my only chance. That was never the case, and those things were never going to help me get where I really wanted to go. I was wasting my energy by not being discerning with where I used it. Once I knew the kind of work I enjoyed, the people I enjoyed doing it with, it just started appearing in front of me, and the opportunities and people that didn’t align with that saw themselves out.
Next, pretty simple, build your knowledge. Videos, podcasts, interviews, books, the resources I’ve learned the most from are all free or cheap. It makes a massive difference in how people will regard you when you come prepared.
Finally, most importantly, take your self-love incredibly seriously. Build your self-esteem and work it out continuously like a muscle, check in on it and make sure you’re feeling strong. Your self-love is your greatest nonsense-repeller. People will test you in this industry to see if they can take advantage. These people are not real artists, but use it as a disguise. If someone makes you feel like your boundaries, your principles, or your safety are not important, feel safe and comfortable moving on from working with them. They were never looking to make great art, they have nothing to do with your future, and you’re going to find your people elsewhere.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Always looking for new people to collaborate with! If you’re in LA, you work on films in any way, and you like my vibe and the kind of work I do, feel free to send me a message with a little about you and your work! You can be crew, an actor, a stunt person, a prop guy, choreograph stage combat, whatever it is, we’ll check out your stuff. I’m not sure where we’ll be in pre-production for my current film when this comes out, but my team and I are always looking for talented, hardworking people, and we love to bring people back to work with again and again. If you don’t see a response, I’ll still hold onto it for the future! Also- if you’re in LA and play music maybe message me your music and I’ll come check out a show! Always looking to get to know more local bands.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @tinyteethmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tinyteeth2344

Image Credits

Rachel Keaton, Cory Messer